Prescription sleeping pills that are unlikely to help women in the long run, studies show

Prescription sleeping pills can help women who occasionally suffer from insomnia, but probably not for chronic ones Sleeping disorder, A new study was found.

Two-year data from nearly 700 middle-aged women show that long-term use of drugs such as Ambien, Lunestra, or some anxiolytic prescriptions is longer-term for women compared to women who did not use the prescription. According to a report released at the BMJ Open on Tuesday, the pill showed that it didn’t help to sleep well.

“Long-term use of sleeping pills has nothing to do with reducing sleep disorders,” said Dr. Daniel Solomon, a professor of rheumatology and pharmacoepidemiology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Stated. “We looked at women with similar baseline explanations for sleep disorders and compared women who took the drug two years later with those who had never taken it, and found no difference in sleep results. . “

An estimated 9 million Americans say they use prescription drugs such as benzodiazepines as sleeping pills. Z-drugs such as zolpidem, zaleplon, and eszopiclone. Other anxiolytics prescribed off-label.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5% of adult women and 3.1% of adult men have used prescription sleeping pills in the past month.

Clinical trial data show that many of these drugs work with short-term use. However, because insomnia can be a chronic problem, many people spend more time with insomnia and little is known about its long-term benefits, the researchers said.

“My patient came to me with various complaints about sleep,” said Rheumatologist Solomon, who said he would prescribe the drug in a very short period of time. “Some of my patients were prescribed sleeping pills for long-term use by other clinicians, but they were still complaining about their sleep.”

To investigate the effects of long-term sleeping pill use, researchers found that women were menopausal. The women surveyed were 42-52 years old and self-identified as Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, Chinese, or Japanese.

Women filled out a questionnaire every year. They reported whether they had difficulty falling asleep, whether they woke up frequently in the middle of the night, and whether they woke up earlier than they wanted. Answers were measured on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 was not difficult at any night and 5 was difficult over 5 nights a week.

“This is an important study,” said Dr. Aron Avidan, professor of neurology at UCLA School of Medicine and director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center. “This is one of the first long-term real-life follow-ups of an impressively heterogeneous group of patients to answer the question of whether these drugs make a difference in the management of insomnia.”

The study supports experts that drugs can be a tool if used in a short period of time to help people with insomnia get to sleep better, Avidan said. Said. “But you can’t use them alone.”

The problem with using drugs to control the symptoms of insomnia is that “it gives patients some relief, but the sleep they get with the drug is more sedative than sleep,” Avidan said.

Treating insomniacs with medication alone gives diabetics medication and tells them that they can go ahead and eat all their favorite candies and junk foods without having to exercise. It’s like.

This study examined women at some point in their lives. Sleep is often interruptedFiona Barwick, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University and director of Stanford’s Sleep and Circadian Health Program, said.

“Women are at increased risk of sleep disorders in middle age, especially during menopause,” Berwick said. “It’s time Hormones are changing dramatically.. Estrogen helps regulate melatonin, which helps us fall asleep, and cortisol, which helps us feel more careful. “